Oil Majors’ Reserves Of Oil And Gas In 2013

Oppenheimer analysts Fadel Gheit and Robert Du Boff examine oil and gas reserves held by the oil majors as well as the large E&P companies as of end-2013 in their April 8, 2014 research note.

“The combined estimated proved reserve of the largest four companies at the end of 2013 was a record 67.8 bboe, up 2% year-on-year, 1% in the last three years and 6% in the last five years,” reports Oppenheimer.

From the table above, note that Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) hold the largest proved reserves amongst the four majors with 25.22 bboe and 17.73 bboe respectively.

Oil Majors’ reserve replacement rate

Reserve replacement rate, a crucial metric that shows the extent of replacement of depleted oil reserves, was on average 119% over the last three years and 115% over the last five years for the integrated majors. Here too, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) led from the front, reporting 115%/150% (average 3 years/5 years) and 132%/105% (average 3 years/5 years) respectively.

“The four largest integrated oil and gas companies spent more than $360 billion on reserve replacement in the last three-year period and more than $577 billion in the last five-year period. Shell led its peers in reserve replacement spending in the last three-year period, slightly edging XOM, while BP spent the least (in part reflecting the TNK-BP asset swap), followed by Chevron. XOM, however, led the group in reserve spending in the last five-year period, followed by Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) and BP,” observes the note.

Spending on reserve replacement by the integrated oil majors grew 22% on an aggregate basis of the past three years and 57% over the past five years.

Finding and development (F&D) costs

F&D costs averaged $21.12/boe for the four majors during the past three years and $17.59/boe in the five-year period.

BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) was the lowest-cost major across both the three-year and five-year timeframe.

Production

The four majors together produced over 15 bboe in the latest three years and over 25 bboe over the last five years. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was the production leader amongst the majors in both timeframes.